Are you paying your interns at least the National Minimum Wage?
If you are considering hiring an intern, it’s important to find out whether they are entitled to be paid the National Minimum Wage (NMW).
Whether an intern should be paid NMW depends on their worker status. If they are classified as a worker for NMW purposes, they are entitled to at least the NMW for the hours they have worked during their internship.
You can find information on GOV.UK to help you work out whether an intern would be classified as a worker for NMW purposes.
Correcting NMW underpayments
If you think you’ve made a mistake you need to put things right. Here’s how you can do it:
- Change the working practices going forward.
- Calculate arrears: determine the arrears due to workers using current NMW rates.
- Pay arrears: ensure the arrears are paid back to the workers. For any affected ex workers, you must make all reasonable attempts to contact them.
If you have identified and paid arrears for underpayment of minimum wage, then there is an option to inform HMRC. You can do this by requesting a form by emailing voluntarydeclaration.nmw@hmrc.gov.uk.
Further Guidance and Resources
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